Kolkata

A hand rickshaw puller on a ChristmasSince the end of the 19th century, hand-pulled rickshaws have been plying the streets of Kolkata. They have witnessed to and remained an integral part of Kolkata’s socio-economic evolution for over 100 years. Many identify Kolkata City with the Victoria Memorial, the Howrah Bridge and these hand-pulled rickshaws. They regard it as a cultural icon of the city, irrespective of the stories of inhumanity and cruelty that social critics and activists have attributed to the city’s unbarred use of man-powered rickshaws. But in the real world, it is hard to decide what is worse - a perfectly able young person to be pulled by a barefoot old man through the dirty streets of Calcutta or is it crueler still to deny him the chance to earn some money? What they need is proper work rehabilitation and empowerment.

The Daily ExerciseKushti, the indigenous art of grappling and wrestling, has a long and illustrious history in Kolkata. Only six mud-pit akhadas remain in Kolkata, which once used to be a major centre of kushti. Now, there's very little support for the traditional sport, since the focus is on Oympic-rule wrestling. The very few senior pehlwans who still cannot do without their morning and evening regimen of mud-wrestling, say that even two decades ago, used to be the centre of traditional kushti, with pehlwans from all over the world making a beeline to its akhadas to participate in high-voltage dangals (kushti competitions). North Kolkata was home to the rich gentry and the young scions of the most powerful families like the Tagores, Debs, Lahas, Mitras and Mullicks got trained under the akhada pehlwans. While pehlwans mostly visited their homes, it was not uncommon to see the nobility in horse-drawn carriages and, later, in motor cars, waiting outside akhadas for training sessions and also competitions. Keeping fit through wrestling was a part of the rich man's daily regimen and there are many stories about Rabindranath himself and his brothers, Swami Vivekananda and, later, Netaji and other freedom fighters being avid wrestlers.

Foggy MaidanMaidan is the largest urban park of the city. The vast stretch of field is called the lungs of the city. During winter morning, the Maidan gets covered with a blanket of fog, giving it a mystic look.

Movie PostersThey can be found in abundance in the city. They sprung up everywhere, from authorized billboards to road railings, and some of them remain stuck for a long long time.

Weight-lifters of Kolay MarketKolay market is located in the under-belly of the Sealdah Bridge. Kolay market is one of the oldest and thriving wholesale markets in Kolkata. On the congested road just outside the gates of the Kolay Market, one often comes across group of well built men in colourful turbans. Wrestling bundles weighing hundreds of kilograms onto the turban-wrapped heads of fellow workers, they deliver bushels of veggies from the trucks and carts outside to the wholesalers. Life for these human forklifts is tough. Each team generally has 15-16 men, mostly from the same extended family or village. They are aspirational migrants from the neighboring state of Bihar.